Patriot One Appoints Karen Hersh as Chief Financial Officer
Patriot One Technologies announces the appointment of Karen Hersh as its Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) and Corporate Secretary effective immediately. In this role, Ms. Hersh will be responsible for overseeing all financial aspects of the Company, while supporting the board of directors on strategic matters relating to the commercial deployment of the Company’s Patscan Platform, corporate development initiatives and capital markets. Mike Barnsley, the current CFO, will support her transition into the role prior to retiring.
“We’re excited to welcome Karen to Patriot One, as she brings with her a great deal of expertise in financial management of both public and private companies,” shared Martin Cronin, CEO of Patriot One. “Karen’s hands-on CFO experience in financial planning and reporting, corporate governance, business development and operations for start-up and growth stage technology companies makes her the right choice for this key C-Suite position. She has a demonstrated and proven track record for leading cross-functional teams to achieve business objectives and value creation, which is critical as we continue to execute on our vision and capitalize on the market opportunity before us.”
Ms. Karen Hersh joins Patriot One with over 20 years of experience across a broad spectrum of finance activities including financial reporting, strategic planning and corporate finance, including mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”). She has held several senior leadership roles, most recently as the CFO for a global private equity company focused on cybersecurity technologies where she was responsible for M&A, financial reporting, and portfolio management. Prior to this role, Ms. Hersh held the positions of CFO at VIQ Solutions Inc. (TSXV:VQS) and Vice President of Corporate Finance & Investment Banking at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Ms. Hersh holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and is a Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA).
“I’m very excited about the opportunity to work with this passionate team in moving its life-saving technology towards global deployments and success,” said Karen Hersh. “When first approached about this role, I was immediately impressed with the approach Patriot One is taking with its multi-sensor platform as being both unique and highly important to protecting our communities. I am eager to assist the Company in bringing its vision to life and creating a world safer from acts of violence on our global citizens.”
Mr. Mike Barnsley, the Company’s current CFO, has been looking towards retirement, and feels this is the right time as the Company moves from start-up to full scale operations with the PATSCAN Platform in commercial deployment. Mr. Barnsley will ensure a smooth transition of duties to Ms. Hersh prior to his departure and will serve in an advisory role to the Company.
“Today, we say goodbye to Mike, who has been a great influence for me, the board and our management team in steering Patriot One on this first leg of our journey from inception to productization,” expressed Peter van der Gracht, Chairman of the Board at Patriot One. “We wish him well in his retirement, but know he will be watching us closely, as he’s been an instrumental part of the Company and will want to see success of the PATSCAN Platform in saving lives and a way of life in all our communities.”
